The Role of Interoception in Emotion and Social Cognition

We begin this chapter by clarifying our working definition of interoception and discussing how interoception fits within the larger picture of human brain functional evolution. We focus on the role of interoception in supporting the predictive regulation of the internal milieu, or “allostasis,” and situate this process within human phylogeny (evolutionary development) and ontogeny (life course development). We review evidence that interoceptive systems develop within the context of human infants’ “allostatic dependency,” or dependency on caregivers to regulate their internal states, and overview how allostatic dependency may set the stage for the development of interoception and its role in emotion, selfhood, and social perception over the rest of the lifespan. We then review evidence that interoception supports emotional and social processing in adults. We close by discussing how the role of interoception in emotion and social cognition has implications for socioemotional health and well-being.